Earning her trust
by HellHathNoFuryLikeAHathaway
Summary: Lissa, feeling emotionally vulnerable after Victors attack has found herself distrusting guardians. The only person she trusts is Rose. So naturally, when Guardian Belikov is assigned to be her new guardian and Rose's future guarding partner, the girls have a major problem with it. To gain Lissa's trust, Dimitri must first gain Rose's trust. Which won't be easy.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own the plot and idea. I do not own Vampire Academy. All rights go to Richelle Mead.**

The blaring sound of her alarm clock brings Rose out of her dreamless sleep. She wants to ignore it and stay cuddled under her blankets but the obnoxious noise won't shut up. With a huff of annoyance, Rose throws her arm out of the warm cocoon of her blankets and with more force than strictly necessary hits the snooze button. She lays there a minute longer enjoying the peace and quiet of the empty halls. With a quick check through the bond to see if Lissa is awake yet, thankfully she's not. She gets up gathering some fresh underwear and heading toward her bathroom for a longer than normal shower. She decides she's earned the luxury after the rough couple of months she's had.

Rose and Lissa have been back at St Vladimir's Academy for just over two months now, and it's not been easy. She doesn't know why she thought things would get better once they were back, once they knew the threat was over. But she's not sure if they will ever feel safe again. Hell, she can't remember the last time she did feel safe. Even before they ran away from the academy and Rose had to deal with the stress of protecting her best friend out in the human world. Between the constant strigoi threat from being the last Dragomir and the threat of being hunted down by the academy and having every other Moroi and Dhampir on the lookout for them, It wasn't easy. But it was necessary.

Lissa wasn't safe at the academy anymore, she started getting increasingly paranoid. What seemed at first like random pranks soon revealed themselves to be a more insidious plot against the princess. So Rose did the only thing she could think of doing, she took her best friend away and hid her. If no one knew where she was, then they couldn't harm her.

It didn't matter that it meant she had to give up the only home she had ever known. Or that everyone she had ever known and loved believed her to be reckless and endangering the princess's life. That they mocked her, judged her and decided she would never make a good guardian. None of it mattered as long as Lissa was safe. She came first.

She will always come first.

Lissa depends on her now even more than she did before. Rose is Lissa's lifeline, she's the only one Lissa trusts. Not that Rose can blame her, after all, the threat against Lissa turned out to be someone they never could have suspected. Lissa's beloved uncle, Victor Dashkov.

Victor had been close friends with Lissa's father and had known Lissa her whole life. But he was sick. He was dying and knowing Lissa was a spirit user specifically talented at healing, decided to use her as his very own life support. Draining her of her life to preserve his own.

If your own family is capable of hurting you, all bets are off for everyone else.

And seeing as Rose is the one that saved Lissa from Victor, Rose is the only one that Lissa allows to be near her. She depends on Rose.

Rose has to admit, the whole Victor thing messed with her too. She finds it equally as difficult to trust others now, though she can't tell if that's her own judgment or out of fear for getting it wrong and it costing Lissa.

The only good thing that came out of all this hell, is that everyone that judged Rose and made rash decisions about her based on her action of taking Lissa out the school, got their own foot in their mouth once Victor admitted to everything. Even her own mother had thought she was reckless and irresponsible, she said some pretty unseemly and unforgivable things, so naturally when the truth came out about what Victor had done and that Rose is literally the only reason Lissa is still alive today, well you can imagine their embarrassment. Not like Rose cares, she didn't want their apologies, after they showed her what they really thought about her well she didn't want much of anything from any of them. Especially her mother.

Rose refuses to even take her calls. The thing is, her mom knows she deserves it.

So now it's just Rose and Lissa, leaning on each other.

They've isolated themselves from the rest of the school, the only people they still interact with is Eddie Castile and Mason Ashford. After all, Rose grew up with them, she knows she can trust them. They're the only two people Rose is willing to trust Lissa to, and that's saying something.

She can feel Lissa stir awake through the bond so she hurries in the shower, turning it off and ringing out her hair. Wrapping a towel around her body, she walks back into her room to pick out today's outfit. Normally she doesn't really care about what she's wearing, not that she's happy to look rough, but she's also not exactly bothered about dressing up and gaining anyone's attention. She gets an unfortunate amount of attention as it is and she'd really rather not gain any more. However today calls for additional effort. They've been informed that the queen is sending a new guardian to St Vlad's. He's being specifically assigned to Lissa. As the last Dragomir, she technically should have at least two guardians at all times, especially after everything she has been through, but Lissa has outright refused up to this point. Not that she can be blamed. After all, it was guardians that abducted Lissa and allowed her to be tortured. They may have worked for Victor but they went through training like every other guardian. They took their promise to protect moroi, for them to come first. Yet they were happy to turn against their supposed morals for money.

That makes every guardian potentially dangerous in Lissa's eyes. And Victor proved that every royal moroi is happy to do whatever they have to for power. It makes everyone a potential threat.

Lissa tried to refuse this guardian too but her majesty has put her foot down. She has allowed Lissa a certain amount of leniency but has decided her life is too important to risk.

As you can imagine Lissa is furious about it. She has no intention of interacting with this guardian, if he has to be assigned to her then so be it, but it doesn't mean she will trust him.

_**Rose, are you awake?**_

_**Yeah Liss. Just getting ready. Be fifteen more mins max.**_

This is one of the great things about being bonded. Being able to communicate telepathically. It means they can have privacy always and if Lissa is ever in trouble, Rose will always know. Don't get her wrong, it's not always a walk in the park. For instance, being sucked into each other's head whenever one of them feels a particularly strong emotion. That can cause a bit of awkwardness between them. And feeling each other's emotions sometimes can feel like an invasion of privacy. But it has helped them become even closer if that was even possible.

They have always been inseparable since they first met at five years old but it wasn't until they was fifteen when everything changed.

Rose and Lissa were involved in a car accident with Lissa's entire family. Her father Eric, her mother Rhea and her brother Andre. They all died in the impact including Rose as it turned out. But Lissa saved her resulting in Rose becoming Shadow-kissed and her and Lissa to become bonded.

Rose isn't sure why it was her Lissa reached for, not her parents or brother. But she supposes she's thankful for it. Without her, she'd be dead right now.

So any drawback she has to endure from the bond is worth it in the end.

Rose drags herself out of her dark thoughts and focuses on the clothing choices in front of her.

She decides on black skinny jeans, a deep red camisole, her black leather jacket and combat boots. Everything about her outfit screams lethal. And yeah she has to admit she looks damn good in them too.

She quickly blow-dries her hair, letting it fall down in soft dark waves down her back and applies a light amount of makeup to accentuate her features. Not that she needs much with her naturally tanned skin tone and dark eyes.

She puts on her chosen outfit concealing her stake inside her jacket pocket. Technically speaking, it's against the rules and regulations for students to carry a weapon but Rose refuses to entrust Lissa's protection to campus guardians. So what they don't know, won't hurt them.

Rose knocks lightly on Lissa's door, thankful that she has the room right next to her, so it's not far for her to travel.

Lissa opens the door sensing its Rose on the other side. Unlike Rose Lissa is wearing a light blue dress that falls just above her knees, partnered with a white soft cardigan and white ballet flats. It's always funny to Rose how they're complete opposites for the most part. Lissa is the light to Roses dark. They complement each other, she supposes that's why they work so well together.

"I'm nervous" Lissa's shuts her door behind her swiftly locking it. She keeps tugging on the sleeves of her cardigan whilst she follows Rose down the hall toward Principle Kirova's office.

"I know Liss. But it's going to be ok. I'm going to be right next to you. I won't go anywhere, ok?"

Rose reaches out to place a tentative hand on Lissa's arms, interrupting her nervous tugging of her sleeve.

"Thanks Rose. Love you"

"Love you too. Always"

With a final smile and a deep breath they walk up to Kirova's door only to pause and knock, waiting to be called in.

The door opens to reveal Kirova sitting behind her desk, she looks up as they enter and stands to greet them. Rose is pretty positive she's only greeting them so formally for Lissa's benefit, not her own. But she refrains from rolling her eyes.

"Ah Princess Vasilissa, Rosemarie. Thank you for coming" Rose knows Kirova is aware how much she hates her full name, yet insists on using it in hopes of annoying the shit out of her. You'd think saving the princess's life and proving she wasn't the trouble maker Kirova originally thought her to be would have earned her a little merit with their principal. But nope. She's still a bitch. Probably because with Lissa refusing to trust any of the staff at St Vlads and only Rose, it makes them look bad. She's pretty positive this is Kirova's way of taking her embarrassment out on Rose.

Kirova walks around the desk to stand in front of them. Rose takes a moment to observe the room around her. It's basic guarding, to take notice of everything and everyone around you. Scanning for any threats. And she's certainly found some. If you ignore Kirova that is, which Rose still isn't sure the hag isn't a threat. But the looming shadow of the giant guardian stood next to Alberta screams threat.

He has to be at least six foot six or seven, with shoulder-length brown hair, slightly sun-kissed skin and Dark brown eyes. Darker than her own. His whole posture screams deadly.

She can feel him turn to evaluate her in the same way she had him, so she purposefully pretends she can't feel his eyes on her.

"I'd like to introduce you Princess to your new appointed guardian"

The giant takes this as his cue to step forward cautiously to bow to Lissa. Rose assumes that means he's been warned about Lissa's distrust in guardians as he's doing everything he can to not seem intimidating. Not like its working when you naturally look like that, it's a bit hard to come across as gentle.

"Princess Dragomir, my name is Dimitri Belikov. It's a pleasure to meet and serve you"

He doesn't miss Lissa taking a slight step back to partially stand behind Rose. Or Rose instinctively placing her hand on the princess's arm to calm her.

Lissa nods at him in recognition to his introduction and vow of service. Normally the royal in her would scream at her rudeness but she honestly doesn't have it in her anymore. She doesn't trust this man in front of her and she doesn't care if he knows it. Proper etiquette can screw itself.

Alberta takes a step forward to ease the awkward tension in the room.

"And this is Rose Hathaway, top senior novice here at St Vladimir's. The Princesses bond-mate and, your future guarding partner".

Dimitri takes a step forward toward Rose holding his hand out to shake hers. Rose however, doesn't move a muscle. Instead, she stares him down, takes a disdainful look at his outreached hand and flicks her eyes up to meet his. Raising her eyebrow slightly in a gesture of indifference.

She thinks she notices his lip twitch slightly but isn't sure. He folds his hand back behind his back in the classic guardian stance.

Kirova looks like she wants to chastise Rose's rude behavior but knows she can't say anything against her without also calling out Lissa's equally rude behavior and she would never do that.

"Well. Now introductions are out the way. I believe you two ladies have classes to attend to. Guardian Belikov is officially on duty from this moment and will be following you to all your classes and free periods from here on out. If you have any problems Guardian Belikov please do inform Guardian Petrov".

It's about as dismissive as a dismissal can be.

Lissa takes the lead out the door first with Rose falling into step with her. Thankfully they've only missed breakfast so far this morning, their first class Moroi culture 4 won't start for another ten minutes yet. Walking in late to class will only draw more attention to them.

Rose can tell Lissa feels uncomfortable with Guardian Belikov trailing them even if it is at a respectable distance as she hasn't said a word the entire walk to class.

They walk over to their normal seats and set up for class as the others slowly start to pour into the room. Rose notices Guardian Belikov join the other guardians against the side of the wall observing the class for the remainder of its period.

Rose zones out during Mr Vera's boring lecture and instead uses the opportunity to scope out the room. The guardians are all standing there trying their hardest to keep the equally bored look off their own faces. Well except for guardian Belikov that is, as Rose's wandering eyes finally lands on him, she notices he had already been staring right at her but the second he notices her looking at him he quickly averts his eyes. Rose justifies that he could have been looking behind her at Lissa but something about the tingly feeling she has going up her arms tells her she was who held his attention.

The rest of class thankfully blurs by, she barely waits for the bell to stop ringing before she grabs her bag and guides herself and Lissa out the room before the other students start piling out.

She has to give Guardian Belikov credit, he managed to keep up with them with ease, making it look like it's his natural pace.

The next class is Roses least favorite of all. Guardian protection and Theory with Stan Alto, aka the biggest dick going. The only good thing about that class is she has Mason and Eddie to laugh with.

Lissa follows Rose into her class and she can see Guardian Belikov's brief questioning frown before he smooths his mask back out. Moroi aren't allowed in Dhampir classes ordinarily, you especially wouldn't find a royal Moroi sitting through a dhampir class. They usually don't concern themselves with dhampir matters. Where a Dhampir's life is to serve the moroi and one day probably die for them. A Moroi takes no notice of their sacrifice, it's simply how it is. Moroi run the world and Dhampir serve it. It's a fucked up system but somehow its the world they live in.

But ever since the whole Victor abduction thing Lissa is glued to Roses side. At first the school tried to put up a fight but the queen quickly agreed to all of Lissa's demands on the hopes of earning her trust. As the last Dragomir the queen needs Lissa to one day take her family's royal spot on the council.

That's how Lissa now has permission to sit in on all of Roses classes whilst she works on her own studies privately. It's also how she happens to occupy the room right next to Roses. Normally she'd be in much nicer accommodations in the Moroi dormitories, but she didn't feel safe being away from Rose and there was no room in the moroi dorms for Rose.

However, due to there being so few female dhampir novices, The females floor in the senior dhampir dorms happened to be virtually empty except a few occupied rooms.

It makes keeping Lissa safe a lot easier as she sits in every single one of Roses classes even when she has training in the gym Lissa sits in the stands and either watches or works on her own studies. The other novices have gotten used to it now, they may not have liked it at first but everyone knows why Lissa refuses to be away from Rose. And they feel for her, it no secret how badly the event of the past couple years affected Lissa.

"Hey Hathaway. Where were you this morning? Never thought I'd see the day where you skip a meal" Mason's joke is met by Eddie's and a few other classmates laughter.

"Watch it Ashford, or you might find yourself with an accidental black eye" Mason knows Rose's threat isn't to be feared this time. When Rose is truly angry everyone knows to stay out her way. Hell hath no fury like a pissed-off Hathaway.

"What and mess up this handsome face? It would hurt you more than me"

Rose snorts at Masons horrendous idea of flirting. Their relationship is based off sexual innuendoes and harmless flirting.

Whereas Eddie is more the serious brother type.

"Seriously, everything ok Rose?"

"Yeah all good, Castile. Liss got herself a Russian stalker is all"

She points toward her best friend sitting behind her watching the trio's exchange with amusement.

Rose is aware that said Russian stalker can probably hear her, and his slight lip twitch confirms as much.

"Wait, who's a stalker?"

That's one of the things Rose loves about Mason, he's goofy when he wants to be but can be serious in an instance especially when it comes to protecting Rose or Lissa.

Lissa interrupts her before she can say anything else insulting about the new guardian.

"Principle Kirova called me and Rose into her office this morning to introduce me to my new Guardian assigned to me by her majesty, despite my wishes" No one could miss the annoyance in Lissa's voice.

"Oh shit. Who'd you get?"

"Guardian Dimitri Belikov" Lissa tilts her head in his direction against the far wall for the boys to look at.

"You're shitting me?"

"Would we shit you, Mase?"

Mason rolls his eyes at Rose's natural sarcastic response.

"Do you have any idea who that is?" Mason looks like a kid on Christmas morning and Eddie's awestruck face isn't far behind him.

"Well yeah, we just told you" Rose replies in a '_duh'_ way.

"He's a god" Eddie is nodding along with Mason's statement and a few of the other guys around them are adding in their agreeance.

"Oh puh-lease"

"I'm serious Rose. He has an amazing reputation, they say he fights like a god. That's why he got the title. He was the top novice to graduate from St. basils and is the youngest blood master seven"

"Jeez, do you wanna go lick his ass whilst you're at it?"

Rose doesn't want to admit that she's actually pretty impressed so as always she passes it off with a sarcastic remark.

She chances a glance at said guardian everyone is drooling about to notice whilst he isn't showing it on his face, his eyes are glinting with amusement. Rose rolls her eyes in retaliation knowing full well he caught it.

Lissa, however, isn't joining in on the admiring Guardian Belikov train, if anything she looks even more uncertain of the man.

Rose probes her head and discovers that hearing about how well trained he is doesn't make her feel safer, instead it has the opposite effect. She's frightened of him as if he really is that capable then what chance would she stand against him if he chose to harm her?

Although Rose doesn't think he would, she can't fault Lissa's thought process. They don't know this man, and they've been proven time and again that they can't trust anyone else.

She gives Lissa a comforting smile letting her know she understands how she feels.

"Whatever, Hathaway. I'm just saying you're seriously lucky. If you've got to have a guardian, might as well be the best".

"I already have the best guardian, I have Rose. I don't need, nor want another"

Realizing how insensitive they were being to Lissa, knowing full well how she feels about guardians after her abduction. They at least have the decency to have sheepish looks on their faces for commenting that Lissa should feel lucky.

Thankfully Guardian Alto calls for everyone's attention in his usual obnoxious way. Rose never thought she'd ever say this but she's currently grateful for his distraction, hoping to ease the awkwardness that built in their little group.

That thought doesn't last long however as she has to listen to Stan's boring tone of voice drill on senseless nonsense.

The class goes on agonizingly slowly. But eventually the torture comes to an end and they get to head off to lunch. They make their way in their group, Rose and Lissa side by side, arms linked and Eddie and Mason trailing behind them slightly and no doubt the supposed Russian god not far behind them.

One of the many obvious differences in moroi and dhampir's other than the fangs and whole drinking blood thing is their differences in appetite. The moroi tend to have tiny portions such as Lissa's pathetic plate of pasta salad, compared to the dhampir crazy appetite that enables Rose, Eddie and Mason to pile their plates high with all sorts of food. Shoveling it down like they've been starved for days, not a few hours.

_**Hey, you ok?**_

Lissa looks up from her meal to lock eyes with Rose.

_**I'm fine. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make things uncomfortable back there.**_

_**Don't worry about it. The boys are just dumb sometimes.**_

Lissa smiles slightly at Roses's joke. Though it does tend to be true a fair amount of the time.

_**It's just sometimes, I miss it you know? Just you and me out there in the world. I never felt scared out there. But all I ever feel here is terrified. It's a constant fear that never goes away.**_

Rose reaches over the table to take Lissa's hand in hers. Giving her a sad smile.

_**I know. But I will keep you safe. I promise.**_

_**I know you will.**_

They share one more smile before they continue on their respective meals.

Lissa might have missed Guardian Belikov observing their silent exchange with interest but Rose sure as hell didn't.

Rose and Lissa get up to head to the feeders before next class starts. It's always best to go toward the end of lunch as the lines are always less.

"We're heading to the feeders. Meet you guys in the gym"

They guys give a grunt and nod of acknowledgment to their departure, whilst still shoveling down food.

The earlier animosity thankfully seems to have dissipated.


	2. Chapter 2

Two weeks. That's all its been since Lissa got assigned Guardian Belikov, and already Rose wants to tear her hair out in frustration.

The man is everywhere. She gets up in the morning and goes for a run before Lissa wakes, he's out there walking the wards. She meets Lissa outside her room for breakfast, he's there waiting against the wall. In every single class there he is again. And even in her down time with her friends who's always around? You guessed it, Rose's least favorite Russian guardian.

He's even started to appear in her dreams _(which no, she won't expand on)._

Guardian Belikov is Rose's personal shadow and she hates it. He's like the bad smell that just wont go away.

Her patience which is already very small is decreasing by the day.

The thing is he technically hasn't done anything wrong. He's polite and distant for the most part. He doesn't involve himself in conversations or situations unless he see's it fit. He's just doing his job, and she guesses he's doing an ok job of it.

But, something about him irks her.

The way he is always around, like she can't escape him. The way he watches her. He's always watching.

And she has no idea why.

But she can feel his gaze on her every single time. It's like this tingling feeling that starts at the base of her neck and travels down her spine.

She always knows.

She tries her best to ignore it and him. Acting like she has no idea she's currently under his observation, but she is aware of every excruciating second of his wandering gaze.

She can't talk about it to her friends either as she doesn't want Lissa to feel even more worried and well Eddie and Mason worship the ground the guy walks on, so they would be no help.

So she continues to ignore his existence until she can figure out a better plan.

She wouldn't say its the perfect plan by any stretch of the imagination, but its all she's got right now.

This morning though their usual routine changes.

Rose steps out onto the field in her workout gear like she does every morning and starts her pace around the track. Barely two minutes into her run she feels it. The tingle. Now this isn't exactly unusual but what is however is the looming presence of someone matching her pace step for step beside her.

She knows its him.

She doesn't even need to turn her head to the right, of course she still does anyway.

He's dressed in black joggers and a black t-shirt.

Rose wishes she could say her eyes didn't stray from his face to admire his body but can you really blame her?

His usually loose shoulder length hair is tied at the nape of his neck, exposing his impressive 6 Moljina.

This is one of those moments where Rose has no idea what to do. Is she supposed to say something to him? Or act like he's not there? _(That is her usual go to after all)_

Dimitri makes the decision for her however with a polite head nod at her then facing away from her back to the track, running in perfect pace with her in complete silence.

She usually likes to run alone, though that's usually because Mason and Eddie would never be out of bed this early and she doesn't like anyone else. But what can she do? She isn't about to walk off the track as she was here first. And, yes that is pretty childish, but her stubborn side won't budge on it.

So that's how she finds herself running side by side Guardian Dimitri Belikov for the next 40 minutes.

This new routine of theirs continues everyday for the next few weeks. Rose walks out onto the field and starts warming up for her run. Dimitri will walk over and join her as she sets the pace of the run. They acknowledge each other with a head nod that it, no more or less. They don't speak to each other, they don't even smile at each other. They just run together in silence.

It's not awkward, well it was the first couple days. But now against her better judgment Rose finds she enjoys it. She enjoys the peace. It's that kind of comfortable silence that lingers between them.

Of course she would never say that she enjoys his company per se, she would sooner hang out with a strigoi than admit that.

_Yup, no. No thank you._

Except when Rose walks out onto the field today, does her usual warm up routine and starts her run on the track, she instantly notices Dimitri's absence.

She wants to shake it off and ignore it. So what if he doesn't join her today? It's not like they have an agreement.

_Maybe he's busy, or not feeling great. Or just wants to run at a different time._

At least that's what Rose keeps telling herself to explain away his absence.

Yet, she has this niggling feeling in the pit of her stomach that's telling her something feels off.

She wants to tell that feeling to fuck off. After all, she's finally gotten what she wanted right? to be left alone.

But the last time she had that feeling was when Victor kidnapped Lissa.

With a check through the bond she see's Lissa is sound asleep still in bed. Although deep down she knew it wasn't about Lissa. For some unexplainable reason, she feels a need to find Dimitri.

People talk about having a sixth sense, how sometimes they just know something is wrong. Like a little voice telling you, don't get on that plane, or take a different route home tonight. Well hers was leading her through the woods to the edge of the wards.

It isn't until she hears a distinct scream of agony that she realizes she was right.

Rose quickens her pace running out to the edge of the wards. No one is supposed to be out here this far, only guardians patrolling. And even they should be in pairs.

Finally running out into the clearing Rose can see the reason behind the scream.

Stood in the middle of the clearing is one very pissed off female strigoi with a sliced open face. If Rose was a betting woman she'd wager that was the cause of the scream.

Stood beside a malicious looking male strigoi facing down a very battered and tired looking Dimitri Belikov.

She takes a split second to assess the situation, she has no idea how he came to be out here and stumble upon the strigoi but if the dead strigoi on the ground beside him is any indication then he's been out here alone fighting off 3 strigoi for a while.

_Where the hell is everyone else?_

Seeing Dimitri fall to the ground from a powerful blow to the head is enough to send Rose into action. It's not the smartest idea she's ever had. She has no weapon and no back up. And no one has any idea they're out here.

But, she can't think about that, she just reacts.

Diving forward toward the female strigoi, she takes the blonde by surprise knocking her effectively to the ground. Rose rolls herself up as fast as she can. Staying on the ground too long is the quickest way to die.

She succeeded in gaining both of their attention, though she's not too sure how grateful she is for that fact anymore.

The male strigoi lunges for her, which she quickly dodges. But not fast enough to block the blow to her side from the blonde.

The pain is good though, it fuels her rage.

Rose turns on the female strigoi next with a sickening crack to her already sliced face, effectively knocking her down in pain.

Knowing this will be a losing battle without a stake to end them, Rose ducks under the male strigoi's swing of his arm, rolling her way to Dimitri's unconscious body. Thankfully his stake is still by his side.

Now with a weapon, Rose turns to face the strigoi again with a new determination. Going on the offensive this time, she leaps forward kicking the male down as she goes. The blonde strigoi barrels toward her but Rose is ready, kicking out her legs in one sweeping motion she's upon her before she even hits the ground. With a precise strike, Rose thrusts the stake into her chest, watching her eyes dim as she dies.

The moment of still victory costing her as she's thrown from the females strigoi's body to the ground, her head hitting the cold dirt.

She finds herself in the worst position she could be in, pinned beneath 160 pound undead vamp.

This is not at all how Rose saw her morning going today.

She grips the stake once more into her hand as she releases her arm from restraining him. Just as he leans in to bite Rose pushes the stake up as hard as she can penetrating his rib cage and finding his heart. She rolls the strigoi's limp heavy body off her as she takes a minute to catch her breath.

This moment of joy can't last long however as she remembers her reason for being out here in the first place. A very hurt Dimitri laying to her side.

"Guardian Belikov. Can you hear me?"

"Guardian Belikov?"

Rose gently shakes his body trying not to injure the guardian anymore than he already is.

It's tragic that the thought that pops inside her head at this moment is that this is the first time she's ever touched Dimitri.

Shaking herself clear of unwanted thoughts she tries again to unsuccessfully rouse him.

"Dimitri!"

Still nothing. The oozing wound on his head is definitely cause for worry. Knowing she can't leave him there to go get help in case any other strigoi are lingering near by, Rose pockets his stake, and with all the effort she has left drags his very heavy body back over the ward line into safety. She manages to drag him all the way through the woods and hopes that she isn't causing him anymore unnecessary damage.

She doesn't know how much time has passed but everyone must be up by now for breakfast.

The very welcome sight of a patrolling guardian confirming her suspicion.

"Help!"

The guardian notices Rose's dirt covered form dragging his unconscious colleague, and runs over to help her.

"What the hell happened?"

"Strigoi" Rose barely manages to breathe it out, Vlad, she's exhausted.

"Where?" The urgency and fear in the guardian's eyes isn't overly reassuring to her.

"Past the ward lines. They're dead"

"What the hell was you doing past the wards?"

"How about all the questions after we save his life?" Rose snaps out.

Dutifully chastised, the guardian helps Rose haul Dimitri up to his feet, with one of his arms around each of their shoulders.

They manage with a lot of effort to finally drag him through the infirmary doors.

The staff taking one look at the trio and jumping into action. Dimitri is lifted out of her arms and onto a bed as nurses and doctors start assessing the damage and firing off questions.

As annoying as all their questions are, all she feels is relieved.

He's going to be ok.

…..

Dimitri stirs awake, the distant sounds of beeping drawing him back to reality. The smell of disinfectant and the bright lights indicate he's in some form of medical place. But the memory of it is foggy.

His head clears enough to see the retreating form of a woman leave his room. He can't make out her features or who she is, and wonders why she's leaving.

A few minutes later the form of someone he does recognize walks into his room.

"Ah, Guardian Belikov glad to see you awake"

"Dr. Olendski, what happened?"

"What do you last remember?"

With a sudden clarity Dimitri remembers exactly what he had last been doing though still he's clueless to how he ended up in the school's infirmary.

"The strigoi. The students, are they ok?"

"What students?" Alberta's question alerting her presence.

"Guardian Petrov. Did they make it back inside the wards?"

Alberta's confused expression doesn't fill him with hope.

"Dimitri, i need you tell me everything you remember"

"I was on my way to my morning workout when i noticed two students out past curfew sneaking into the woods. I followed after them but not fast enough. I heard the girl scream, i ran after them and found the two students surrounded by three strigoi. One had their hand around the girls' throat. I had to act fast. I charged at the strigoi freeing the girl, and told her and the boy to run and get help. I took down the closest strigoi and then ascended on the other two. I was just trying to buy time until the other guardians would arrive. After a while of fighting i was struck in the head. That's the last thing i remember. What happened after that? How did i get here?"

Dr. Olendski takes this as her cue to leave with a nod to Alberta she closes the door behind her.

"Novice Hathaway brought you here"

Dimitri isn't entirely sure he isn't suffering from a brain bleed or the very least a major concussion. Something to explain any of this.

"Rose? How?"

"She found you in the middle of your strigoi encounter past the wards and saw you go down. She jumped in to assist you. She dispatched the other two strigoi and then dragged your unconscious body across the wards and to help. She saved your life"

Dimitri sits there in utter silence for a moment, he has no idea how to react. It's all just so much to take in.

The same Rose Hathaway that acts like she can't stand his existence, a senior unruly novice, risked her own life to save his.

Dr. Olendski walks back into the room thankfully filling the silence.

As if the information is suddenly soaking in Dimitri registers that Rose fought two strigoi alone and could be very hurt herself right now.

"Where is she? Is she hurt?"

"Rose is fine. A few cuts and bruises but nothing major"

His relief at this knowledge is palpable.

"Would you like to see her?"

Dr. Olendski's question momentarily throws Dimitri off. Alberta had just said Rose was fine, so why would she still be here?

"She's a stubborn girl that one. She refused to leave your side the entire time you were out. I had to do her examination myself at your bedside. She only just left as you stirred awake to inform me"

"Though I'm not quite sure where she's gone now"

Dimitri manages to croak out that it's ok, he will catch up to her another time. But his head is spinning. Rose Hathaway is impossible to figure out.

But he finds himself desperately wanting to.

….

Rose isn't paying any attention to what Mason is rattling on about, Eddie seems to be the only one that shares his excitement over his new video game. Lissa bless her heart is trying her best to look interested but Rose knows video games aren't in Lissa's wheelhouse.

She loves the boys but since the strigoi attack yesterday they've been hovering. With Dimitri in the infirmary, they've taken it upon themselves to be Lissa's official other guardians. And although they wont admit it, it's clear to Rose that they're trying to keep an eye on her too.

They all freaked when news spread of the attack. Turns out Jesse Zeklos and Camilla Conta snuck out for a quickie in the woods and stumbled upon strigoi. Luckily for them Dimitri found them, but rather than get help for him they ran back to the moroi dorms so they wouldn't get caught and in trouble.

Rose is seriously pissed off about that.

So is most of the school thankfully. Jesse thought spreading the rumor to his royal moroi buddies would make him seem cool with his near death experience. Instead, it made him look like a coward and a selfish one that left a guardian that saved him, to die.

News also spread thanks to the guardian that helped Rose carry Dimitri to the infirmary of her saving Dimitri's life. She finds herself pissed off about that too.

All these kids thinking she's cool for saving the 'God of Guardians'. Like it was an easy feat. Like she didn't get lucky.

Truth is she was incredibly lucky; she wasn't prepared for the fight. She had no weapon and didn't have time to assess the situation. But, thankfully Dimitri did have a weapon she could use and also he had fought with the strigoi weakening them making the kill possible and also killing the third strigoi himself. So she doesn't see it as some big heroic moment. She see's it as a colossal fuck up because of two stupid horny moroi assholes that could have gone so much worse than it did.

So finds herself extremely surprised and uncomfortable to see Dimitri walking toward her friends and herself.

"Guardian Belikov, how are you feeling?"

Lissa may not have been on board with having a guardian but that doesn't mean she doesn't care about his life. She's pure hearted always.

"I'm fine thank you Princess. Thanks to novice Hathaway, I hear"

Rose flinches at his gratitude and attention. She doesn't want it. She doesn't think it's necessary.

But, she will admit it's good to see him up and about.

"May I have a moment of your time Novice Hathaway?"

Lissa walks a head with Mason and Eddie as they all wish their get wells to Dimitri. Rose wishes she could walk off with them. She's never really had a conversation with Dimitri, not alone at least.

"I wanted to thank you"

"That's not necessary"

"Rose, you saved my life. I find it necessary"

She isn't sure if it's his statement delivered with such grateful honesty or Dimitri calling her by her first name that shocks her more. Instead of replying to his statement, she just nods her head in acknowledgment.

Hoping that's the end to their awkward conversation, Rose takes her turn to walk back to her friends before Dimitri's words halt her again.

"How did you know?"

"You was late"

Dimitri's confused expression forces Rose to explain herself further, which she'd much rather not do.

"For our morning run. You were late. You're never late. So I went to look for you, which I obviously found"

Deciding that's a good enough explanation on her part, Rose again tries to walk away from Dimitri.

"How did you know?"

"I just explained…"

"No. How did you know where I was? I know Lord Zeklos and Lady Conta didn't retrieve help. And I didn't tell anyone else where I was going"

She can feel her heart rate pick up, Rose isn't someone who gets nervous often but she can feel her nerves spiking now. She was hoping no one would ask her this question, that they would just happily accept she wondered upon him.

How can she explain to him that she can sense him? That her body lead her straight to him, like being pulled by a rope. Any kind of explanation she could try would either give the wrong message or make her seem crazy. Or open up room for dialog on a conversation she'd much rather not have.

"Just lucky I guess"

Rose can tell Dimitri doesn't buy her half assed excuse in the slightest, but thankfully he doesn't seem like he plans on pushing her.

"Well, thank you either way"

"You're welcome"

Finally Rose manages to make her escape back to the familiarity of her friends. As she walks away from him, she can feel his gaze burning into her skin. But she refuses to turn back around.

No matter how much she might want to.


End file.
